Polygon Bets $250M on Payments as Polymarket Drives Network Fees Past $1.7M in January

Acquisitions and prediction markets reshape Polygon’s revenue and payments narrative

TL;DR

• Polygon Labs committed over $250 million to acquire Coinme and Sequence, anchoring a U.S.-focused payments strategy.
• Polymarket’s 15-minute prediction markets pushed Polygon’s January fees above $1.7 million, a 14-month high.
• Network activity surged alongside fee burns, lifting daily transactions above 5.3 million and active users to 1.4 million.

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Polygon Labs has repositioned itself beyond scaling infrastructure with more than $250 million spent acquiring Coinme and Sequence, two U.S.-based crypto firms central to its Open Money Stack vision. The move signals a clear push into regulated payments, stablecoin rails, and wallet infrastructure, placing Polygon closer to fintech territory traditionally dominated by Stripe-like platforms.

Coinme brings licensed cash-to-crypto on-ramps and U.S. money transmission coverage, while Sequence adds wallet and transfer infrastructure designed for high-volume consumer payments. Executives framed the acquisitions as foundational, emphasizing payments as crypto’s most practical use case rather than a speculative extension of decentralized finance.

Revenue momentum arrived quickly from another angle. Polymarket’s expansion of 15-minute crypto prediction markets triggered a sharp rise in Polygon’s fee generation during January, lifting total network fees beyond $1.7 million. Short settlement windows and higher taker fees amplified transaction frequency, turning prediction trading into a meaningful revenue engine.

Daily fee data showed Polymarket alone contributing over $100,000 within single-day periods, reflecting how fee design can reshape network economics. Polygon’s weekly revenue approached $1.1 million, marking the strongest performance since late 2024 and highlighting a shift toward application-driven fee sustainability.

Network usage scaled alongside revenues. Daily transactions climbed to roughly 5.3 million, while daily active users reached about 1.4 million, the highest levels since mid-2025. Throughput improvements following recent upgrades supported heavier loads without visible congestion.

Rising activity also accelerated token burns. Estimates suggest more than 12.5 million POL, valued near $1.5 million, were removed from circulation during the surge, with base fee burns nearing one million POL on peak days. Sustained usage at current levels could meaningfully alter long-term supply dynamics.

This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.